Laid out in the comfort of his office, Ryuuki's golden orbs fluttered open and looked up to find Shuurei peering down at him, concern clear in her eyes.

"Your Highness?"

"Shuurei…" he croaked, and winced. His head was throbbing. Why was that again?...

His long, tapered fingers slipped into his hair to rub at his bruised skull, and brushed against a stray leaf.

Oh, right…

"Thank goodness you're all right!" the talented woman, his one true love!, exclaimed, raising a delicate hand to her chest.

At her words, the young ruler felt his heart soar. She'd really come! His beloved was at his side once more, taking care of him, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears of worry and emotion, and surely she'd now divorce her useless husbands (even if they were his most trusted advisors) and declare her undying love for him and stay with him and—

-and-

…-and why were her eyes hardening?

"You IDIOT!" she screeched, her fists balling tightly in the lapels of his no-longer-quite-so-immaculate robe. "What in all of Saiunkoku were you doing climbing a-," words he never realized she knew erupted violently from her lips, "—tree!"

… ah, ahahahah, a slight miscalculation, it seemed. No matter! Time for them to mend their fences—bridges—canyons!—...moats?—whatever it was that lay between them!

"To see you," he replied as feebly as he could manage. Perhaps if he subtly reminded her he was in pain, she would calm herself and tend to him some more. Or at least release her grip, it was starting to choke him.

But not likely.

"Why didn't you just ask me!"

Stupid Seiran coughed from the next room over.

Fighting the urge not to poke his pointer fingers together in front of his chest, Ryuuki felt his fair brow crossing in hurt. "Because you've been so wrapped up with your new life…"

"I'm still working here at the palace every single day," she ground out between her teeth.

"But you're not here at night anymore! We never see you!" -at bed-time, he added mentally.

A vein throbbed visibly in Shuurei's temple.

-before she promptly exploded, rapping him on the head with her knuckles with a wanton disregard for his wounds. "Of course not! I'm married—it means I go home at night instead of sleeping in my office," she growled. Then her eyes grew distant and hard a moment. "At least I wasn't sleeping in my office. I may be re-evaluating that decision," she muttered under her breath, letting him go so he dropped with a thud to the cushion beneath him. She turned away and crossed her arms over her chest, her earlier bad humour returning full force.

"Trouble at home?" he asked hopefully, momentarily forgetting his head injury.

Shuurei skewered him with a glance.

"What kind of reaction was that? And… how did you know?..."

"Er… We'd heard you were upset… and… We assumed it was…"

Shuurei's eyes narrowed on her fearless leader, and he swallowed, his eyebrow twitching nervously.

"I don't remember mentioning anything to anyone," she replied evenly.

"Oh, it must have been Seiran…since he was the one they gave the vacation to…"

The slow, knowing shaking of her head cut off his excuses.

"I changed his orders, your Highness. Which makes me very curious to know how you came to hear about the original ones."

"Ahhhh…. Er… you see…"

The hardness of Shuurei's eyes suddenly melted away, replaced by a fiery glint.

"Your Highness—."

"R-r-ryuuki," he interjected weakly, desperate to soften the forthcoming blow.

"I believe I am needed elsewhere. At home, in fact. Because I owe my husbands an explanation, and by the sounds of things, a thorough apology." She stood, and collected her things from a nearby table in quick, snapping movements. "I don't know what kind of subliminal message you inserted in their heads, but I am going to go wipe it clean," she said darkly. Then her eyes sought his and held them. "I trust I don't need to tell you to never pull this kind of stunt again?"

"But-but-but—what about me?" he gasped, raising up on his elbows to watch her depart. His vision swam a moment, and he held his head again.

"You have all night to think about that, while I'll have all night to… correct the error of your ways," she said sweetly, and nodded goodbye. "Correct it very, very enthusiastically. Until we're hoarse from it. Have a wonderful evening, your Highness."

As the door slid shut with a light clack, Ryuuki slumped down onto the settee again.

And groaned.

All night?

Really?

He sighed.

TBC.